Today is players’ day off, but several players were available for the media. Eli Manning put it simply: “We can only get better,” he said.

Let’s hope. He agreed he needed to cut down on his turnovers and explained away his interceptions:

“The first interception was just a bad play, a bad decision by me. The second one was just a weird throw off a heel and then after that we were down 22 points. One was a fourth and 10 and probably pressing. The next one was just a bad play. But I think for the most part we’ve been throwing the ball well and doing some good things. We’ve been stuck in some second and longs, third and longs. We’ve got to get the running game, we’ve got to be more balanced and I think that will help things out.”

“Today is a day of sulking. We’ll sulk today. We’ll come back and win and get this thing right,” said DE Justin Tuck. “Honestly, we have to stop beating ourselves. We have a lot of opportunities in these first three games to kind of rewrite what this 0-2 is, the reality of this 0-2. We have to stop beating ourselves. We had a lot of opportunity to win both of these football games and didn’t do it. Granted we played two pretty good football teams, but like I said, we had opportunities to play better than what we did.”

LT Will Beatty knows the line isn’t getting the job done, but isn’t pointing the finger. He’s just looking to get things righted as well:

“We don’t make excuses. It’s whatever five we’ve got and today this is the five that we have to make work. As a player, you love being out there starting. In no way would I have said, “put somebody else in for me.” That’s what you want. I know Pugh wants to be out there, he wants to be starting and he has an opportunity. Wherever Boothe can go to help us, he’s going to be there. He’s going to be at that spot and he’s going to take ownership of it. In no way do we ever say, “this five is not good enough to go out there and compete.” So each game we go out there and compete and we’re expecting to do better things next week. We cleaned up a lot of these little things; it’s the little details in the run game that make the difference between the big plays and shutting it down.”

Notes and statistics from the Giants’ 41-23 loss to the Denver Broncos courtesy of the Giants public relations gang:

The bad….the Giants fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2007….The good…that year, they won their next six games and went on to win Super Bowl XLII.

Out-Foxed…The 41 points were the they’ve allowed in a home game since Dec. 27, 2009, when Carolina – led by current Broncos coach John Fox – beat the Giants, 41-9, in the final game in Giants Stadium.

Ouch….the 18-point margin of defeat was the Giants’ largest at home since Sept. 26, 2010, when they lost to Tennessee, 29-10.

Double ouch….The Giants had 19 rushing attempts for only 23 yards, their lowest total on the ground since they ran for just six yards at the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 12, 1989 in a 31-10 loss.

The Giants had four turnovers, all interceptions, and have 10 in their first two games, their highest-ever total in the first two games of a season.

The Giants’ first offensive play was a 51-yard pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz. It was the Giants’ longest play on their first offensive snap since Oct. 30, 2005, when Tiki Barber ran for 57 yards in a 36-0 victory over Washington.

Eli Manning completed 28 of 49 passes for 362 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. The 49 attempts tied for the third-highest total of his career. He threw 53 passes at Seattle on Nov. 27, 2005 and vs. Washington on Dec. 16, 2007, 51 vs. Tampa Bay on Sept. 16, 2012 and 49 against Minnesota on Nov. 25, 2007.

Manning has thrown for 812 yards in the first two games, the highest two-game total of his career.

It was Manning’s 27th career regular-season 300-yard game. The Giants are 13-14 in those games.

Manning’s four interceptions tied his career-high. It was the fourth time he threw four picks (also Nov. 13, 2005 and Nov. 25, 2007 vs. Minnesota and Dec. 26, 2010 at Green Bay). Manning’s seven interceptions this season are the highest two-game total of his career.

Slow going…..Brandon Jacobs rushed for only four yards on seven carries. But…….one of the attempts was a one-yard touchdown run, his 57th career rushing touchdown extending his franchise record.

Da’Rel Scott scored on a 23-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter. It was the first TD of his career.

The good….Cruz led the Giants with eight receptions for 118 yards. He has 118 receiving yards in each of the Giants’ two games. It was Cruz’s 14th career 100-yard game. The semi-good….The Giants are 7-7 in those games.

The bad….Denver’s Trindon Holliday returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The semi-good….He is the first Giants opponent to run a punt back for a score since Philadelphia’s DeSean Jackson returned one 65 yards to give Philadelphia a victory over the Giants on Dec. 19, 2010.

Royalty rising….CB Prince Amukamara led the Giants with 10 tackles, all solos.

Quiet start…..Rookie defensive end Damontre More made his NFL debut, but had no statistics.